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Trinidad, Colorado - A Historic Building Survey

INTRODUCTION

and

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To undertake, with optimism, a project of this magnitude and complexity and hope to complete it in the relatively short span of three months, one need be stupid or incredibly naive. I plead the latter and shall hope to be so judged.

In May of 1970, the Trinidad Historical Society entered into a contract with the Trinidad City Demonstration Agency (Model Cities) which called for a survey of all the buildings in the main business district which were of historic and/or architectural significance. A cursory survey showed we were dealing with seventy five or more buildings. Ultimately we studied and compiled basic information on ninety three buildings before reducing the number submitted in this booklet to fifty five. Certainly by now it is quite obvious to those of. us who have worked in this project that Trinidad does indeed have a tremendous amount to offer to all who are interested in or intrigued by western history and/or Victorian architecture.

To begin with, Trinidad's setting is almost idyllically unique. Few, if any, towns or cities in the world have a more distinctive and memorable backdrop than that provided by the looming stair steps of Fisher's Peak. Fisher's Peak is merely the western terminal of a great, sinuous chain of basalt-cap­ped mesas that thrust eastward from the Sangre De Cristo Moun­tains for over a hundred miles. Some of these imposing mesas rise abruptly by as much as thirty six hundred feet above the surrounding terrain; therefore, at elevations between nine and ten thousand feet, they are among the highest mesas on the North American Continent. These are indeed awesome mesas.

It is this formidable topographic barrier of eastward thrusting mesas butting against the north-south axis of the frontal range of the Rocky Mountains that has funneled so much western history through the site of present Trinidad and over the comparatively easy route of Raton Pass. Fascinating tales of intrigue, duplicity, violence and death are involved in the naming and placement on the map of both Fisher's Peak, the island mesa looming above Trinidad, and El Rio De Las Animas Perdidas en Purgatoire, the mountain stream flowing through the town. Now this stream is usually referred to simply as the Purgatoire but it is sometimes further altered and corrupted into "Picketwire". These various names alone tell us something of the influences of the Spaniards, the French and the mountain men who used this route prior to the 1860's when Trinidad herself came into being.

There is much charm to be found along Trinidad's gently winding and rolling streets, many of which are still paved with bricks. A great many fine, old homes dating from the Victorian era and Trinidad's heyday are scattered throughout the town but in this particular study we have limited our interests and efforts to a few streets in the very heart of the city. The vast majority of the buildings we present herewith are located within the rather limited boundaries of the original town site, hence, on the legal descriptions, we have the initials "O.T.S." signifying "original town site". There is no other town here in the southwest with which we are familiar that has such a superb concentration of Victorian buildings in both quantity and quality. Obviously, not all of the buildings we have included are of anywhere near equal quality either historically or esthetically. However, we present much of the "downtown" area almost in its entirety in order to demonstrate the strong visual impact imparted by the town as a whole. In several notable instances the buildings have remained virtually unchanged, particularly on the exterior, for nearly ninety years. In many other instances the buildings have been altered, almost inevitably for the worse, by aluminum and glass and paint and by offensive, projecting signs.

We who have worked on this project believe Trinidad is deserving of a "face lifting". We emphatically do not want to see appreciable numbers of these buildings further degraded by so-called "modernization" or mindlessly destroyed to make way for yet another parking lot or a building of less beauty and basic integrity than that of the existing structure (as is so often the case in renewal projects). In many cases, perhaps removal of certain signs is all that is necessary. In some instances, a fair amount of renovation is required but, properly planned, even this will prove cheaper than the solutions often resorted to. Rarely, if ever, would true restoration be called for in order for the building to retain its basic character and charm. In order that Trinidad may retain and enhance its uniqueness we need widespread recognition among the townspeople and building owners of this uniqueness and its potential economic and esthetic value to the citizens of this town and all the multitudes who will visit and cherish these qualities. We need vision, we need planning, we need protective and restrictive ordinances, we need effort and we need the cooperation of our residents and of the various governmental agencies that are vitally concerned with just this sort of program. We hope this tentative, first step will launch us in the right direction.

This program has been conducted largely through unpaid, voluntary efforts on the part of nearly fifty Trinidad residents. Most of these people are members of the Trinidad Historical Society. We have met at night and we have met at noon. We have burned the midnight oil, haunted county offices and the abstract office, prowled the library stacks at both the college and the public library, we have talked to dozens of owners and pried into their records as well as their minds. We have, without exception, been tolerated in good grace and have been assisted by all we contacted. This speaks well for our town and her citizens.

We are new -all of us- at this particular game so we will have undoubtedly made more than a few mistakes. These errors may be ones both of omission and commission and some may be grievous indeed. A certain number of errors are almost inevitable in any such undertaking as this and that becomes doubly true when one is pressed by the necessary but troublesome nature of deadlines, limited budgets, and contractual requirements. But, beyond that, it is most likely that I not only have made errors completely of my own doing, but have also, inadvertently compounded the errors of my researchers. For this I can only apologize and this I do.

It would not be practical for me to acknowledge all of the people who have actively worked on this project or assisted it in so many different ways. Their thanks will have to be a general one and their reward merely that of knowing they did a job the best they could. I would like to single out and express my special appreciation to Fred Fernandez and to Frank Saccommanno of the County Assessor's Office for their whole­hearted cooperation and assistance in going through the records of that office. Pat and Henry Furu were absolutely invaluable to us by making their records available to us at all times despite considerable inconvenience to themselves and their office staff. Glenn Aultman has been most helpful to me in this project in several ways. First of all he worked long hours at times in order that I might have a particular group of pictures when I needed them. Secondly I am indebted to him for permitting me to use many of the fine old pictures that he has as a hold-over from his father who was a pioneer Trinidad photographer. The outstanding collection of the Aultman Studio has been purchased and now belongs to the State Historical Society of Colorado but they have granted Glenn control over these valuable negatives for the time being. All of the early photographs in this book are from that collection. We are most fortunate in the Trinidad area to have two outstanding historians in the persons of Dr. Morris Taylor, professor and department head at Trinidad State Junior College, and Mr. Roy Mitchell, curator of the Pioneer Museum, Bloom House and Baca House. Both men have been of the greatest assistance to me and have given freely of their time and their expertise. Finally, I wish to express my personal indebtedness to Langdon Morris for his assistance. This brilliant and highly regarded Denver Architect has served this project well in many capacities, not the least of which was his unfailing enthusiasm for this project and for Trinidad's future.

Willard C. Louden
August 18, 1970                                                           Program Coordinator